42nd Ward Traffic Closures & Construction Projects

Filming Notice: 183 W Monroe

Universal Television, LLC will be filming several scenes on Saturday, January 6th. In order to park the necessary vehicles and equipment for filming, the following streets will be posted as a No Parking / Tow Zone from 12 PM - 11 PM on Saturday, January 6th. Click here to review street closures and impacts.

Filming Notice: Lower Wacker

Universal Television, LLC will be filming several scenes on Saturday, January 6th. In order to park the necessary vehicles and equipment for filming, the following streets will be posted as a No Parking / Tow Zone from 10 PM Friday, January 5th through 10 PM Saturday, January 6th. Click here to review street closures and impacts.

Crane Lift: 1043 North Rush St

On Friday January 12th, from 9am to 5pm, traffic will be prohibited on Rush Street, between Bellevue Place and Cedar Street for a crane lift at 1043 North Rush Street. Bellevue Place traffic will not be affected and the intersection of Rush/Bellevue will remain open.

Helicopter Lift: 225 W Randolph

Midwest Helicopter to lift steel onto the roof of 225 W Randolph. The lift is scheduled for Saturday, January 13, from 9am to 11am. During the lift, the following will be closed to vehicles and pedestrians:

1. Randolph, from Wells to Franklin
2. Wells, from Lake to Washington

Helicopter Lift: 225 N Wabash

On Saturday, December 23 from 9 AM - 11 AM, there will be a helicopter lift at 225 N Wabash Avenue. During the lift, pedestrian and vehicular access will be prohibited at the following locations:

• North Wabash, from Wacker Drive to Lake Street
• Wacker Place, form Garland to State

CDOT Construction: Pin & Link Plate Assembly and Expansion Joints

The Department of Transportation will begin a project to replace pin and link plate assemblies and expansion joints associated with the bridge structures of upper and intermediate Columbus Dr., Randolph St., and Stetson Ave. Pin and link plate assembly work will be performed from the underside of the bridge decks while expansion joint replacements will occur from above.  The work is anticipated to begin on Monday, November 13th, 2023 and progress to completion (anticipated Fall 2024).  

Work is to start along upper, intermediate, and lower levels of the following roadways: 

• N. Columbus Drive between E. Wacker Drive and E. Randolph Street
• E. Randolph Street between N. Michigan Avenue and N. Field Boulevard
• N. Stetson Avenue between E. Wacker Drive and E. Lake Street

During construction, portions of these bridge structures will be barricaded off to prohibit vehicles and pedestrians directly over the active work. 

• Vehicles will be shifted and/or detoured to allow the work to progress. 
• The sidewalk on at least one side of the roadway and crosswalks at roadway intersections will remain open for pedestrians. 
• Coordination of temporary access restriction may be required with private properties directly adjacent to the project.  

Street Resurfacing

The following resurfacing projects will begin at the beginning of November 2023:

• New Street, between East North Water and East Illinois
• New Street, between East North Water and River Drive
• River Drive, between North New Street and North McClurg Court
• McClurg Court, between River Drive and East North Water
• Huron, between Hudson and Sedgwick
• Erie, between Hudson and Sedgwick

Crews will grind away the top layer of asphalt first and return within two weeks to install new asphalt. The entire process can take 3 weeks to complete (weather dependent).

Canal Street Viaduct Project:

Beginning the week of December 4, 2023, there will be night work for the preliminary stage in advance of the viaduct demolition on Canal between Jackson and Adams. This night work will involve activities that cannot be performed when the Chicago Union Station is open to the public.

During this preliminary night work, access to the east sidewalk of Canal Street between Adams and Jackson and the entrance to Union Station/222 South Riverside will be limited but maintained. Please note that this will only be for night work during this stage of work. Full access, similar to the current daytime configuration, will be restored each morning.

This preliminary work is anticipated to take approximately four weeks with the night work taking approximately two weeks.

PGL River North Project

Peoples Gas began a gas main project in River North. PGL will be working at the following locations:

• Franklin, from Huron to Chicago
• Superior, from Wells to Orleans
• Chicago, from Orleans to LaSalle

The project will be completed at the end of 2023.

Murphy Auditorium Renovation

Driehaus Museum purchased the Murphy Auditorium (50 E Erie) in June 2023, and began the following interior renovations:

• Offices are going to be renovated
• Stage has sunken – leveled out; fix accessibility issue
• New elevator to go all the way to the top floor

Throughout the project, the following will be in-place:

• Pedestrian canopy over the sidewalk in front of 50 E Erie
• 100' of curb lane will be closed in front of 50 E Erie for material deliveries and small crane

They will need to use a small crane periodically throughout the project to lift materials onto the roof that can't fit through the doorway. 

Water Main project: Superior, from Orleans to Kingsbury

In Mid-October 2023, the Chicago Department of Water Management (DWM) began a water main project on West Superior Street, between North Orleans Street and North Kingsbury Street. This project will be completed in three phases. 

Phase 1 will include prep work, utility locating, tree trimming, and infrastructure trenching. The trenching will begin at West Superior and North Kingsbury and move eastward.

DWM is coordinating all water shut offs with each affected building property managers. Work hours will be 7:30am to 7:00pm, Monday through Friday. All work is expected to be completed by the end of February 2024 (weather dependent).  If you have any questions related to this project, please contact Bobby Lyons (project manager) at 773-724-1594 or John Bania (site foreman) at 773-663-8648.

LSD Bridge & Viaduct Project - September 25 to Summer 2024

The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) began working on the Lake Shore Drive Bridge and Viaduct Network between Monroe and Ontario. This work will include removing and replacing link plates, stainless steel pins, and Teflon bushings and expansion joint rehabilitation.  

Upper Level Lake Shore Drive will have one permanent lane closure in each direction and an additional lane closure during off-peak hours.

Intermediate Level Lake Shore Drive will have two permanent lane closures in each direction.

This project is expected to be completed summer of 2024.



Temporary Bus Stop Elimination

Until March 2024, the westbound bus stop at Grand and St. Clair will be temporarily removed.

• Stop ID Number: 761
• Route Stopping: #29 – State, #65 – Grand, #120 – Ogilvie/Streeterville Express, #121 – Union/Streeterville Express

State & Lake Utility Relocations

Utility companies began relocating utilities in advance of the State and Lake CTA project. Train services will not be disrupted during utility relocations. 

At least 1 lane of traffic will remain open (1 lane each direction on State St) at all times, but other driving and parking lanes may be closed. 

Construction equipment and materials will be stored on the street, including during time periods between active work. Work will primarily occur 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM on weekdays and 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM on Saturdays, but there will be limited work during nights. Utility companies are aware of and required to abide by the Chicago noise ordinance, which limits noisy work during overnight hours.

Kennedy Expressway Bridge Rehabilitation

In 2023, IDOT began rehabilitating the Kennedy Expressway (Interstate 90/94), from the Edens Expressway (I-94) junction to Ohio Street.

The estimated $150 million project consists of rehabilitating 36 bridges and the Reversible Lane Access Control system, replacing overhead sign structures, installing new signage and modernized LED lights, pavement patching, and structural painting. Additionally, Hubbard’s Cave, from Grand Avenue to Wayman Street, will be painted and new LED lighting installed.

The work will take place over three consecutive construction seasons, broken down into the following stages:

• 2023 – Inbound Kennedy: Click here for stage 1 fact sheet.
• 2024 – Reversible Express Lanes: Click here for stage 2 fact sheet.
• 2025 – Outbound Kennedy: Click here for stage 3 fact sheet.

The Kennedy Expressway officially opened in November 1960, with the last major rehabilitation completed in 1994. The project will improve safety, traffic flow and reliability for the more than 275,000 motorists who use the expressway each day.

Click here for a project overview.

Click here for a FAQ

Click here to see photos and videos of the project.